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(No Model.) 7 v I I J. H. GAGEBY.

INTRENGHING TOOL. v i No; 557,988. r Patented Apr. '7, 1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES H. cAcEBY, on THE UNITED STATES ARMY.

lNTRE NCHlNG-TOOL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 557,988, dated April '7, 1896. Application filed February 12, 1896. Serial llo- 578,984. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JAMES H. GAGEBY, of the United States Army, stationed at Fort Niobrara, in the county of Cherry and State of Nebraska, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Intrenching-Tools, of which the following is a specification.

A simple, light, and effective intrenchingtool, as a part of the military equipment of each soldier, has always been a desideratum whose value in times of emergency is fully realized by all practical soldiers. Efforts have heretofore been made to provide for this want in the so-called trowel-bayonet or spade-bayonet; but experience has taught that most, if not all, devices which seek to incorporate two or more functions in one article fall short of the expectation and perform neither function satisfactorily. Myinvention is designed to provide a simple, cheap, and practical intrenching-tool, which, while intended to be applied to no other use than that of digging, places in the hands of each soldier a simple, light, and efficient tool for this purpose, which is not liable to get out of order nor to get lost by reason of insufficient means for carrying the same.

It consists in the peculiar construction of tool which I will now proceed to describe, with reference to the drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front view of the blank partly formed into the tool. Fig. 2 is an edge view of the completely-formed tool; Fig. 3, a front view of the same. Fig. 4 is a cross-section on line 4 4 of Fig. 1, and Figs. 5 and 6 are views showing a modified construction of the upper handle.

A bar of steel about three and a quarter inches wide and thicker in the middle than it is at its edges, as shown in the cross-section, Fig. 4, is first rolled and then cut off and about three-quarters of an inch from the edges, the cut Z) Z) joining onto and connecting the upper ends of the two cuts a b, a b, and serving to form a tongue of metal 13, detached except at its lower end where it is integral with the stronger middle part of the bar. This tongue B is then bent over into a hook-shaped handle B, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and is preferably curled up or rounded into a comfortable handhold, as shown, whose longitudinal axis is lengthwise the bar or blade. The end portion C is then curled into a roll about an axis at right angles to the length of the bar to form at the end a transverse tubular handhold G, as shown in Figs. 2 and In forming the tool the body portion A is bent up transversely or slightly concaved, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, which gives the finished tool a width of three inches and forms a shovel-blade. The extreme point 0 is also deflected forwardly slightly to enable it to have a proper penetrating action into the ground.

The shanks D D are preferably concaved, fluted, or corrugated longitudinally, as shown in Fig. 3, to give them greater stiffness.

In making use of this tool the handle portion 0 is grasped in the right hand and the handle portion B in the left hand, and the tool is operated with a' digging action somewhat resembling the manipulation of a hoe.

Practical experience has demonstrated that with this tool three times the work can be accomplished that is ordinarily performed by a trowel-bayonet in the same time, and the soldier can in a very few minutes completely intrench himself, even in hard ground, as it has the combined characteristics of a shovel, hoe, and pick, and its weight is inconsiderable, as it can be substantially made so as to weigh but one pound, or even less.

As the tool is made all in one piece of metal, there is no danger of any part of it getting detached or lost, and it can never get broken or damaged with any ordinary usage.

The tubular handle 0 forms a socket through which a thong or strap may be placed by which it can be secured to the belt, or the tool may be slipped into a sheath or be suspended from the belt by the hook-handle B,

This tool can be efficiently operated by a soldier lying down as well as kneeling, as it has no long handle or awkward leverage that would interfere with its efficient operation.

As a modified construction of the handle, I may run the parallel cuts out to the end of the blank, as shown at a Z) in Fig. 5, and curl the ends of the shanks D D so as to tightly embrace a wooden handle 0 as shown in Fig. 6.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An intrenching-tool comprising a blade having at its upper end two shanks formed in one piece with the blade, a transverse handle at the ends of these shanks and connecting with the same, and a second handle extending down in front of the-blade substantially as shown and described.

2. An intrenching-tool having a blade with a handle extending down in front of the blade and formed in one piece with the blade substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. An intrenching-tool comprising a blade having at its upper end two shanks, a transverse handle at the ends of these shanks and connecting with the same, and a second handle made integral with the blade and extended down in front of the same between the shanks substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. An intrenching-tool comprising a blade having at its upper end two shanks and a transverse tubular handle all formed in one piece, and a lower handle also made integral with the blade and extending down in front of the same from a point between the shanks substantially as shown and described.

5. An intrenching-tool having a terminal handle with its axis at right angles to the tool, and a second lower handle made integral with the blade of the tool and rolled or curled as shown to form a handle whose axis is at right angles to that of the first-named'handle substantially as and for the purpose described.

JAMES H. GAGEBY. Witnesses:

SoLoN C. KEMON, Eow. W. BYRN. 

